VietNamNet Bridge – Industrial zones, high-rise buildings and residential quarters prove to be gold mines for telecommunication companies.

According to the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the average turnover from every telephone subscriber in an industrial zone is VND700,000 a month, VND550,000 a month from every telephone subscriber in a high-rise building and VND360,000 a month in a residential quarter - attractive turnover for telecommunication service providers.

These “happy” clients have created a new market segment, full of potential, for telecom companies to exploit, thus also raising fierce competition among them.

An official from VNPT said that every telecom company uses its own advantages to try to penetrate the market segment. For example, the Electricity of Vietnam, which is the only electricity provider and also has investments in the telecom sector, always attaches telecom services to contracts on supplying electricity for industrial zones or residential quarters.

Telecom companies also compete fiercely with each other by offering discounts on expensive services. The official said that some companies offer discount rates as high as 10-12% of the total costs applied for high-rise buildings or tourism complexes.

In an effort to compete with its rivals, VNPT has signed strategic cooperation agreements with big banks and construction corporations, including the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), Mekong Housing Bank, the Vietnam Import-Export and Construction Corporation (Vinaconex), Becamex IDC and Vincom.

However, VNPT is not the only telecom company to think of shaking hands with big enterprises to lure more clients. Viettel, the military telecom service provider, has also signed strategic cooperation agreements with BIDV, the Ministry of Education and Training. Meanwhile, CMC has signed agreements with Geleximco and Bao Viet Insurance. It is expected that the competition among telecom companies will become fiercer in 2009.

(Source: Dau tu)